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A sophisticated email scam, which pretends to be from the NZ Transport Agency, is taking unsuspecting people to a webpage to renew their vehicle licence (rego) and asks for many personal details such as NZ driver licence details and banking information.

Depending on how much personal information the scamming website receives, the fraudsters may have enough information to carry out a virtual identity theft.

How to spot the scam email

If you’ve recently received an email asking you to renew your rego, please check the email details carefully. Genuine Transport Agency emails always use an nzta.govt.nz suffix. If the email was genuinely sent from the Transport Agency, it will include your specific vehicle details including:

your vehicle’s plate number

vehicle make

the expiry date of your current vehicle licence.

If the email you received does not include your specific vehicle details, do not complete the online renewal transaction webpage that the email takes you to.

What to do if you entered information on the fake website

The website is a clever copy of the Transport Agency website. However, it asks for details that are not required when renewing your vehicle licence (rego). The Transport Agency will never ask for your driver licence details when you’re renewing your vehicle’s licence.

If you have recently clicked on a fake Transport Agency webpage that you’re now suspicious about and you entered your driver licence details or credit card or banking details, we strongly recommend you:

Contact your bank immediately and have them stop any payments that may have been made. You may also need to request a new credit/debit card.

Contact the Transport Agency on 0800 822 422 (Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm) to arrange for a replacement photo licence card to be issued (cost $38.20). We will register the earlier driver licence card as (virtually) stolen which will stop it from being able to be used.

Remember IDCARE, Australia and New Zealand's national identity and cyber support service, is available should you need to talk with someone about this crime, https://www.idcare.org/(external link) or 0800 201 415.

The NZ Transport Agency works to create transport solutions for all New Zealanders – from helping new drivers earn their licences, to leading safety campaigns to investing in public transport, state highways and local roads.